It appears that Lexus has some technology to show off, no doubt the result of the work done by parent company Toyota, and has chosen the next generation CT hybrid as its premiere. Now, it’s not yet confirmed exactly what sort of new technical feature will be offered, but a very likely guess would be those surrounding autonomous or semi-autonomous driving.
The initial report came from Autocar UK after a communication between Toyota Senior Manage, Rembert Serrus, who said that the upcoming CT will have “something above” what the current model offers, leading many to read that as meaning the car will have a higher level of intelligence and therefore making autonomous technology within reach.
Indeed, Toyota has been working on semi-autonomous features and had been doing so for a number of years. Choosing the Lexus CT as spearhead to establish itself as a possible leader in the field would be a curious decision, one perhaps better suited to a more higher-end model in the line-up like it did last year with their Mobility Teammate Concept (technology shoehorned into a Lexus GS).
Having said that, “something above” is a very vague statement and could be interpreted literally - as some already have - that the Lexus is planning to launch a higher-riding crossover version of the CT.
Still, it is only a matter of time until Lexus and Toyota begin rolling out semi-autonomous and eventually fully-autonomous technology into their production passenger cars and should the next CT debut as both a crossover as well as having self-driving features wouldn’t be a total surprise.
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